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2003 K1200GT Headlight wattage

I need to replace my headlights as the H7 low has burnt out and so I just change them both as a general practice. The parts store has a 55w and a 100w H3 for the high beam. Has anyone tried a 100w bulb? I don't know if the wires can handle the extra draw.
Jeff

The stock wiring will not handle the 100W. There have been ground wire failures with the stock lamps. Get a relay set from Eastern Beaver and run the lights you want. I recently installed HID lamp in my low beam and it works great!

I too switched to an HID. Used the kit from Pirates Lair. Wow what a great difference it makes. It throws a ton more light and has a nice diffuse boundary that extends nicely down the road and to the sides. While much brighter than the H7, I haven't been flashed at night by anyone thinking I had the lights on bright. The bright, normal H3 adds just a bit of filler light in the top center of the pattern that extends a little further down the road. I regret I waited so long.

The OEM headlight bucket is a poorly designed piece that will NOT take the heat from a 100w bulb, nor will the inadequate wiring and ground setup take the additional current the bigger bulb would draw. HID conversions in these headlight buckets suck, because neither the reflector nor the lens have been designed to properly focus and direct the beam from an HID capsule. Lastly, fitting an HID capsule is not by any means a plug-and-play setup on this or any other headlight assy set up for H7 bulbs The fore-and-aft spacing of the arc within the capsule determines whether or not your arc, and resultant beam, are in the correct focal point for your headlight bucket. And, the only adjustment you have is to shim the capsule in/out until that focal length is correct enough to give you some kind of decent reflection and beam focus.

Do yourself a favor, replace the OEM light with an appropriate OEM bulb then add a pair of HID driving lights to the bike. Fairly easy to mount, low power draw (70-110 watts for the pair) and can be mounted and wired to give you best effect for your needs. In my case, for example, the aux lights are mounted "cross-eyed" on the bike so the left light illuminates the right half of the lane and shoulder, and vice versa for the right-side aux light. Both lights come on with high beam, switching to low beam drops the right-hand light (that's illuminating the left half of the road) so oncoming drivers aren't PO'd. That sort of thing...

Give some serious thought to your lighting needs and don't try to do a California hot-rod job by stuffing in an oversized bulb. You won't be happy with the results, won't get the light you need where you need it, and will likely damage your headlight bucket and/or wiring.

I used a hole cutter on my drill for the back cover. I forget the specific size now (7/8 I think). I ran the side of the drill bit 180 degrees apart on the side of the hole to wear a slight 1/8 inch notch. The bulb slips through, you plug in the ballast to the harness, a seal slides down to the hole you cut, I stuck the ballast with velcro on top of the cruise control ... that part was pretty simple. I actually didn't remove the headlight assembly to do this was like changing a bulb.

The light from it is not as tightly focused as the original pattern but.. there is so much more light. so much more, It does mimic the original pattern but overspills from that some. I commute home in the winter mostly in the dark and the better light is awesome. On two lane roads I have only had a few flashes and that was when the motolights on the calipers were aimed high after a tire change. Realigned them and no flashes since then.

Another light associated thing is that when on the slab and overtaking traffic, evidently the light has a slightly higher edge to it. You can see it closer to the bottom of the rear window on cars (not SUVs). The normal lively action of the bike on the slab makes it more obvious to them as you overtake folks and MANY more folks move over as you approach. It is just another positive.

I tend to like less blue more white light. This one is much like daylight with just a very slight tint of blue. When you see the high beam H3 on you see the color difference as it appears more yellow.

So it has been on the bike about 18 months now. I would normally be on the second H7 silverstar (20 bucks each). The HID kit I got was 60 bucks. If it doesn't work out after a bit, the refit to original is simple. You disconnect the ballast and bulb and if discarding, cut the wire and use the plug in the hole you cut.

I most likely will explore doing the conversion on the RC51 low beam next.